Effect of Preheating on Mechanical Properties of Different Commercially Available Dental Resin Composites

Background : This study aimed to reveal the effect of preheating on the surface microhardness and shear strength of composite materials used in the restoration of posterior teeth. Methods and Results : There were 3 composite materials under the study: Estelite Posterior, Harmonize and Filtek Z550. To make static and dynamic tests of them, 120 filling samples were prepared. Of those, 60 samples were for surface hardness measurements and 60 samples were used to evaluate the shear strength of composite materials. We formed 12 study groups with 10 filling samples in each. Samples made off Estelite Posterior, Harmonize™, and Filtek™ were designated with E, H, and F capital letters, respectively; the "VH" abbreviation indicated static Vickers hardness testing and "SS" was assigned for dynamic shear testing; mark (°) was used when preheating was applied. Filling samples were made of heated (up to 60°C) and room-temperature (23-25°C) composite materials. The filling samples of EVH, EºVH, HVH, HºVH, FVH, and FºVH groups were subjected to a surface microhardness test. The samples of ESS, EºSS, HSS, HºSS, FSS, and FºSS groups were subjected to shear-strength assessment of materials. The surface microhardness of filling samples was measured using a ПMT-3 Vickers hardness tester and the Vickers hardness number (VHN) was calculated. Dynamic tests were carried out using an UltraTester machine (Ultradent, Inc., USA) and shear test method until the shear-strength (SS) filling sample had completely failed. After analysis of the obtained results, it was found that preheating had enhanced the surface hardness and mechanical strength of the composite materials used in the study. However, the positive influence of preheating was significant only in the EVH-EºVH, ESS-EºSS, HSS-HºSS, and FSS-FºSS groups in 1.21, 1.09, 1.33, and 1.16 times, respectively. In the HVH-HºVH and FVH-FºVH groups, the identified differences were not of significance despite the improvement in mean values at 1.08 and 1.1 times. Conclusion : Preheating of light-curing resin-based composites is not equally effective for static and dynamic mechanical properties of materials for dental restoration. Preliminary laboratory tests could have helped before their clinical use.